Ocean's Power
Steffan Brunette
Ensemble: Chamber Winds
Grade: 4
Duration: 07:30
Year of Composition: 2016
Commissioned by: Brock H.S. Senior Music Class
Premiered by: Brock H.S. Senior Music Class
Date of Premiere: December 21, 2016
Publisher: self-published
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Composer
Links:
Flutes 1,2
Oboes 1,2
B♭ Clarinets 1,2
E♭ Alto Saxes 1,2
B♭ Tenor Saxes 1,2
E♭ Baritone Saxes 1,2
B♭ Trumpet
Trombone
Percussion 1,2
Score and parts available from the composer at no charge.
Program Notes:
This piece was written with melodic contributions from the students in the senior music class at Brock High School in Cannington. The goal was to create a piece that would highlight the unique instrumentation of the group. During a series of brainstorming sessions, the students divided into four groups to improvise and design rhythmic and melodic motives for one of the main sections of the tsunami “story”: pre-disaster, tsunami, aftermath, and rebuilding. These sketches became the basis of the composition.
The class decided to use the Japanese tsunami of March 2011 as the setting. This led to the inclusion of two Japanese folksongs: "Sakura, Sakura" and "Moonlight Over the Ruined Castle". The melody for Sakura is never presented in its entirety. Instead, fragments of the well-recognized tune are used to link various moments in the composition.
(Steffan Brunette)
